


The Tragedy of Soulmates

by sunandmoongobrrr



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aangst, Abandonment, Angst, Destiny, F/M, Katara has abandonment issues, Romantic Soulmates, Screw Destiny, Soulmates, Stubborn Katara (Avatar), haha see what I did there, this started as unrequited love but it was too sad so i made it happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:41:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28364844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunandmoongobrrr/pseuds/sunandmoongobrrr
Summary: One-shot from between the coronation and final scene in Sozin's comet.
Relationships: Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 63





	The Tragedy of Soulmates

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic on here. Sorry abt any ooc! Kudos and criticism are appreciated!!

Katara’s heart was beating out of her chest. She took off her shoes in an effort to relinquish her feet from the heat of her body. The cool stone floor of the Fire Nation Palace helped as she walked through the empty hallways.

_Barely_.

When Zuko had taken that lightning bolt for her, it was her heart that had guided her. Pure rhythmic instinct. It was like she had known exactly what to do. 

_Complete muscle memory._

But seeing him at his coronation was too much for her. As soon as Aang had finished speaking, she wove through the crowds and left. Her heart was beating, but it echoed in a language she couldn’t decipher. And it was so, so loud. The sonic waves shattered every bone in her, every tendon, every ligament. Katara was being so emptied from the inside out. She didn’t want to be like this; empty and alone. 

_Alone_.

Katara opened the door to the seaside balcony. It was late evening, and she figured the smell of the sea combined with the warm afterglow of dusk would be enough to calm her. She rested her hands on the rough stone of the railing, gazing upon the sunset. The beating of her heart ached now, as if it was gnawing at her. Her mind buzzed and she didn’t hear the door behind her open. Why was she feeling like this?

“Hi,” said a familiar voice from behind her.

_Oh_.

Katara’s mind was stuck in the cave back near Omashu. Deep in the mountains, her heart echoed over the rocks and crystals of the tomb, carving out their story with a strength that could destroy herself if she wasn’t careful. Before Aang’s final battle, she had always hated the concept of soulmates. Not because it was unrealistic, but because it was too destructive. Too tragic.

_Tragedy_.

Katara was too relieved to get out of the cave on that day; too relieved to truly understand the story she had dictated to Aang and too relieved in general about the death of two people meant for each other.

_For each other_.

Katara belonged to no one. No one truly did. She had learned that in the North Pole, when she met Yue. Yue insisted she belonged to her betrothed, and later to her people, but in the end she only belonged to herself. High up in the sky, she was all alone. She had left everybody. 

_Leaving_.

Maybe that was another reason she had hated the idea of soulmates. Everyone meant for each other had been torn apart. Yue and Sokka. Her mother and her father. Oma and Shu. To believe in your soulmate was to be waiting for someone that only came to leave. 

_And yet, here he was._

Katara turned around to face Zuko. 

“Hi,” she echoed.

They stared at each other for a long time. He searched her eyes, sun glistening on the ocean. Katara squinted as her mind raced.

“Why are you here?” she muttered angrily.

“Katara--”

“Why did you do that?” Katara yelled, choking on her words. They both knew what she was talking about.

  
“What else was I supposed to do? Let you die?” Zuko snapped. She didn’t respond.

_Let you die_.

Sokka had let Yue die. As had her father with her mother. But Zuko had not let Katara go. Sure, she had saved him, too, but he had wrecked it first. He was the one who had broken the code. He had risked everything. And what was she supposed to do after that; let him die?

_Oh_.

Sokka held Yue for so long after she died. She saw the regret in his eyes when they finally left, and now, facing Zuko on this balcony, she wondered if Hakoda had looked at Kya’s body the same way after Katara had run out of the tent sobbing. She wondered if Oma was presented with Shu one final time, and looked at him the same way, or whether she tried to heal him herself when the doctors told her it was too late. She wondered if Oma’s face was covered with tears, like Hakoda’s at Kya’s funeral. 

_Tears_.

Her image of Zuko blurred. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She had just come to terms with how her life was to play out. She was supposed to marry Aang. Aang loved her; she knew that. And no matter how much he left, she was to always go after him. To ground him and to remind him to return. That was her destiny. To be the wife of a powerful bender. Till death did them part. And it was going to.

_And yet, here he was_.

The gnawing in her heart moved down to her lungs and stomach. Her breathing quickened and her abdomen clenched itself as she drew back a sob.

“Why are you here?” she whispered, tears starting to stream down her face. She brought up a sleeve to wipe them away.

Zuko crossed the balcony, and as her vision cleared she could see he was crying himself. They studied each other for a second before she threw herself onto him.

As if he was reading her mind, Zuko whispered, “I will always come back for you.”

He had just shattered everything.

But she was okay with that.


End file.
